In the previous post, we ended with a little insight into the benefit we should enjoy in having Jesus as our High Priest. Now, we will go full blast into it.
Jesus is your life
As a High Priest our dearest Jesus Christ represents you before God. In other words, He is your life – Col. 3:4; 2 Cor. 13:5; 1 Jn. 4:17. That is what Aaron was to the people of Israel. The high point of Aaron’s work as High priest was on the Day of Atonement.
The Day of Atonement
This is recorded in Leviticus chapter 16. It was an important day in Israel. Two main animals are involved in sacrificing for Israel during the Day of Atonement – the Scapegoat and the Sin-offering.
During this yearly ceremony, Aaron (or the sitting High Priest) confesses the sins of all Israel on the Scapegoat. Then a strong man would carry it outside the camp for it to roam in the wilderness and die.
Aaron also goes into the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant is. He takes with him the blood of the Sin-offering to sprinkle on the Mercy seat, a type of our current Throne of grace.
He wears a blue robe with a golden bell and pomegranate interspersing each other at the hem. So, as he moves in the Holy of Holies those outside who cannot go to the Holy of Holies only hears the bells ringing.
When Aaron (or the sitting High Priest) is accepted, He comes out alive. When he is not accepted by God, he dies in there and it is known because the bell ceases to ring.
Jesus our Scapegoat and Sin-offering
That is what Jesus did for us once and for all. Having carried away our sins on Himself as our Scapegoat, He hung on the Cross from 9am to 3pm when He died in our place as our Sin-offering.
When Jesus resurrected He took His own Blood, being our Perfect High Priest, to the Heavenly Holy of Holies to present before God’s Throne of grace, a type of the Mercy seat. And God accepted Him because He ever lives before God. Hallelujah!
Now, because Jesus as High Priest is your Representative before God, since He is accep-ted, you are accepted. Since He is loved, you are loved by God. Since He is holy you are holy as well. Since He is anointed, you are anointed too. Hallelujah!
Beloved, because of the perfect love of God for you, as Jesus is now, so are you presently in this world before your Holy Father, (since He is you before God as your Substitute) – 1 Jn. 4:17,
“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgement; because as He is, so are we in this world.”
Truly Jesus in Heaven is our life – Col. 3:4, “When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory”.
Beloved, God views us through Jesus Christ, so that we can be bold before Him now and in the eternal judgement to come also. It is all because of His love in making Jesus our High Priest. Praise God for evermore!
He imparts ruler-ship grace
God made our Lord Jesus a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek because He wants us to receive grace to rule in life through Him.
Remember that Melchizedek combined in Himself two offices of High Priest and King. That is why He gave Abraham bread and wine. It was to ‘feed’ Abraham’s secular and spiritual life.
He then blessed father Abraham (with the mention of Heaven and earth) to again ‘feed’ Abraham’s spiritual and secular life – Gen. 14:18-20,
“Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said: blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hands. And he gave Him a tithe of all.”
The Kingdom order
You know, this is how the Kingdom system or arrangement of Jesus works. Note that Melchizedek ‘fed’ Abraham’s spiritual and secular lives, blessing him before Abraham brought tithe to Him.
This order is important to comment on because some people teach that before God blesses, you should have given tithe.
Beloved, in the Kingdom system of Jesus, patterned after the Kingdom order of Melchizedek, God blesses you to induce you to give to Him out of love. You do not give out of compulsion, a sense of duty, to bait a blessing or to avoid a curse.
It is religion that always requires that you ‘put something on the table’ for a deity to (in turn) do something for you. In the Kingdom system or scheme of things, God does something for you before you also do something, as a sign of His blessing on your life.
So, do not turn it around to look like: you do something for God to do something. After all, (let’s reason it out) what can you do for God in your life if God does not initially do something for you? Wow! So you see, the religious teaching of giving your tithe before you are blessed does not hold in the Kingdom-order of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus is both a High Priest and King
Zech. 6:12-13, “…Thus says the Lord of Host, saying: the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, and He shall build the temple of the Lord;
Yes, He shall build the temple of the Lord, He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on His throne; so He shall be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”
This was a prophecy to the then High Priest called Joshua the son of Jehozadak, who was of the Levitical Priesthood. He was told that a High priest was coming Who will be on a throne or be able to impart rulership.
A Throne mind-set
It is important to have a Throne mentality in order to rule in life. As High Priest, the Lord Jesus is seated beside God – Ps. 110:1, “The LORD said to my Lord, sit at My right Hand till I make Your enemies Your footstool”.
So, for God to make you have ruler-ship in all aspects of life you need to be seated or to be Throne or Kingdom-minded. Thus, it is not when you make your own efforts to rule that you get to rule.
Rather, it is when you sit down in what Jesus has already done on the Cross, (just as He has sat down) that God Himself will make you rule over your enemy situations.
My friend, if Jesus is seated you should be seated too, because as He is so are you in this world. When you have a ruling or Kingdom mentality, then He can lead you to rule practically. Praise God!
